Brittle Means it Breaks
by ACrackedLens
Summary: Melinda is finally able to be in the world of her imagination, but does she really want to go? Does she really want to leave the life she's grown accustomed to and step into a world she knows little about? And when she does take that step, will the change break her?
1. Chapter 1

I went over the contents of my suitcase for the hundredth time. Just like the other times, everything was in place. I looked around the small room I shared with another girl in the orphanage. It passed my mind that this might be the last time I saw this room. _That's stupid_, I thought, _I'll be back for Christmas break_.

Truth be told, I was more nervous about all of this than I probably should've been. I mean, this is what I'd wanted for _years_ now. I didn't want to be scared of losing my temper anymore, cuz every time I lost my temper, _something_ had to blow up. And that's why Ms. Moutler allowed me to go to this school anyway, cuz I blew up her new Mercedes.

I didn't know about it until two weeks ago, but ever since I was 11, I had been receiving letters asking me to attend a school called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Ms. M had been keeping them from me out of spite for five years. She hated _my_ guts more than any other kid's here at Hill Crest Orphanage. I was too much of a "hooligan" for her tastes. The _staff_ called me "creative" and "unusually inventive." I love the people here. They've been my mothers and fathers and the other kids have been my siblings for ten years now.

One more look around and I'd be ready to go. I went to the bay window that had a long, purple cushion where Sasha- the girl I shared the room with- and I made up so many stories of knights and dragons and magic. We never thought they'd come true, we were just kids, playing like kids do. I went to the corner where we had made a little hidey-hole for a small frog we had found when we were eight. The bunk beds Sasha and I had shared since she came here when she was seven. A bookshelf filled with books, pictures, and little knick-knacks; most from the stories we invented. I stopped to look at one picture in particular. Sasha and I where seven and it was close to the time she first came to the orphanage. She was so depressed -_all the time_- and I wanted to make her feel better. One day, I just couldn't take it anymore and I took a feather pillow out to the playground and hit her upside the head with it. The feathers exploded into the air, covering her. She looked at me, shocked for a second, and then ripped the pillow from my hands and hit me with it. _It was on like Donkey Kong_. Soon, feathers weren't the only things flying- we started throwing dirt, sand, and even rocks at each other. Finally, when we got too tired to throw anything, she started to laugh. I began to laugh with her. When she was done laughing, she came over to me and hugged me like I was her only friend in the world. A gardener, Greg, saw the whole thing and took a picture of that moment; of the feather and dirt and sand and bruise covered girls that had just been fighting, hugging each other. It was our favorite picture. One of the moment we became the best friends that friends could be.

I pushed some of my long, curly, red hair behind my ear and went to the most important spot in our room. It was important to the both of us. It was where I had saved Sasha's life and found out I was "different" when we were nine years old. She and I had been in one of our stories and we were running around. She had tripped on something and hit her head –hard- on the rectangular bed post. She had fallen to the floor; a small pool of blood began to form. I had gotten on my knees next to her. She wasn't moving. I watched in wonder as the blood began to flow back into her body and the gauge on her head reduced to only a scar. She woke up soon after and I recounted my experience to her. Strangely enough, she believed every word. I've been able to do strange things ever since. It was especially important to me know because it reminded me another reason I was going to this school, so I could protect Sasha better. She was a hemophiliac and very, very clumsy and I can tell you of countless times where it would have been much much easier if I had known a spell or whatever that could help cuts and such heal. I wanted to know that I could do something if anything like this happened again because, to tell you the truth, when you live in the same room with someone for nine, ten years, they grow on you and you love them.

I stared at the stain on the hard wood floor that Ms. M never wanted to spend the money to clean and was so deep in thought that I hadn't sensed Sasha enter the room.

"Don't worry, Melinda," she said softly looking at me with her soft, sea green eyes, "I'll be fine without my bodyguard. I'm a lot stronger than you think I am."

"Yeah right, hemophilic girl," I retorted with a smirk.

She smiled softly and went to our bookshelf. Her straight, black hair hid her face and I saw a silver tear fall to the floor. She picked up our picture and handed it to me.

"Don't forget this," she said, "I don't want you to be forgetting your sis." She started to cry; she had always been pretty fragile…

And I couldn't take this anymore. For two weeks I had held it in and the dam had to break. I was only human after all. Tears flooded from my eyes and retching sobs tore their way through my body. I didn't want to leave. We were so close and had never been far from each other since the day we became friends. I was so used to this life and was scared to think of how different the magic world would be. We sobbed on each other's shoulders for a while before a harsh knock sounded on the door and Ms. Moutler stomped her way into our room.

"Quit that crying this instant!" she bellowed.

I wiped my nosed on my sleeve and gave her a glare that would make most people pee themselves. Sasha looked down at her shoes.

"Now get your _things_ and get out of my house," she said harsher than she had knocked on our door. She turned around and left, knowing I would soon comply.

"I would go with you to the airport if I…," Sasha said with a hitch in her throat.

"It's ok, I know you have to help Mrs. B move in a new kid today," I said.

"I love you, Mel," she sniffed.

"I love you too, Sash."

We hugged each other again and cried some more. A yell from Ms. M separated us. I grabbed my suitcase and headed down stairs. Sasha had my sheets bag.

We loaded Ms. Maggie's car with my only belongings and hugged one last time. We were both crying again.

"Ta-ta for now," I said with a hitch in my throat.

"See ya later alligator," Sasha sniffled

I got into Ms. Maggie's car and we drove to the airport- I shuddered at the thought of flying- where we would board a plane for London. In London, I would be passed to a wizarding family that would make sure I was ready to go to Hogwarts.

When I got off the plane, I dropped to the ground and hugged it.

"I missed you, earth!" I cried, "I'll never leave you ever again! I promise I've learned my lesson!"

Ms. Maggie and I stepped out of the London airport and I looked for the family I was supposed to go with. No one looked like they were witches and/or wizards and we were very worried for a moment.

"Are yeh Melinda Stagg?" a voice asked from my left. I turned to see a boy about my age who had short, sandy hair. He was Irish by the sound of his accent. And cute. Really cute.

"Yes," I said, cautious.

"Oh good! Been lookin for yeh. Name's Seamus Finnigan," he introduced himself, "yeh'll be satyin with me n' meh family 'till it's time to leave for Hogwarts."

"Nice to meetchya, Seamus," I said as I shook his hand.

He turned around and yelled, "Hey! Mum, Da! I found 'er!"

"Oh my," Mr. Finnigan said when he first saw me, "Look at how Irish yeh look, wit' t'at _red curly_ hair!" He fluffed my hair and pinched my cheek. "Ye should get to now t'is one, Seamus, if yeh know what I mean." Seamus's face went red.

"Now stop t'at, you! Don't poke fun at t'is poor girl!" Mrs. Finnigan reprimanded him, "How are yeh, dear? Tired after t'at long trip I bet."

"Well, actu—" I was barely getting a word in anywhere.

"Let's be off now, deary. Much to do!" Mrs. Finnigan took hold of my arm and began pulling me along.

"Bye, Maggie! Thank you so much for everything! I love you!" I called behind me.

Seamus noticed that my load was a little too heavy for me and took my sheets bag from me.

"Let me take t'at fer yeh," he said as he smiled. Damn, he is _so __**cute**_.

"Oh, thanks, Seamus." I blushed. Thankfully, he didn't see.

I followed them for a while through London and into a pub called the Leaky Cauldron. I suddenly grew scared. Everyone in the place looked so dark… We handed our luggage to a particularly scary gentleman at the bar and continued on.

I followed them to the back of the place where they tapped on some bricks. As they began to move, I grabbed Seamus's arm. He turned bright pink.

When the bricks had finished moving and the shock wore off, I looked around. So many people were walking around and they were all dressed funny and many of them held strange things. One man had a paper with pictures that _moved_. I was _NOT_ going to get lost here. _Who knew what was out there?_

"Hurry along now, lass," Mr. F said with a big grin. I couldn't help but to think that what he said had a double meaning- the way he said it gave it away.

"Seamus, where are we going?" I whispered.

"Olivander's," he answered nonchalantly.

"What's that?" He stopped walking. And looked at me like I was crazy.

"What do yeh mean, 'What's t'at?'"

"What is Oliv—"

"I understand t'e question. What I don't understand is how yeh don't know about it. Didn't anyone explain anyt'in to yeh? Ever?" We were walking again by this time. Now he looked both concerned and irritated.

"I thought that was ya'll's job! They said you'd get me prepared and stuff!"

"What did ye expect?"

"Well, I don't know. A nice sit-down talk would've been nice," I said as snarky as possible.

"Well, when we get to Olivander's we can have yer 'Sit-down talk,'" he replied just as snarkely, " An' it's a wand shop."

We arrived shortly and Seamus turned and whispered into his dad's year who laughed and whispered into Mrs. F's ear who gasped.

"T'e nerve of t'em, sendin this poor girl here without tellin 'er anyt'in about t'e world t'ey're tossin 'er into!" Mrs. Finnigan exploded.

"Well, Melinda, today we'll be getting yehr school t'ings: robes, books, an owl maybe, yehr wand. T'en I guess Seamus can show yeh around Diagon Alley, maybe introduce yeh to a few of his schoolmates," Mrs. F explained once she had settled down, "Anyt'ing unusual t'at yeh see yeh can ask him about." Seamus opened the door for me and I thanked him as I walked in.

"Do we have a new witch with us today Mr. and Mrs. Finnigan? Seamus?" a kind looking old gentleman asked once we were all through the door.

"Yes, we do, Mr. Olivander," Seamus answered, "'Er name is Melinda."

"Ah, yes. Now Ms. - -"

"Stagg."

"Now Ms. Stagg, a wand is a witch or wizard's vessel for channeling their magic. It is very important that every witch and wizard have one. And we must find one for you," he smiled kindly at me. I noticed he didn't ask me why I was buying one late like I thought he would.

He disappeared into the rows of shelves and returned with a box. He pulled what looked like an intricately carved, thin, wooden stick.

"Try this one, miss."

I pointed it at a vase in a corner and a stack of papers on the other side of the room flew into the air.

"No. Defiantly not."

He returned to the shelves and came back with another intricately carved stick. This one didn't work much better. We tried several more and Seamus seemed as if his brain was about to come out of his ears so I did what I had been dying to do since I had seen it.

I walked over to a box on one of the shelves. The color of it had attracted me, being my favorite and all. It was purple with silver and black scroll work. Mr. Olivander saw me pick the box from the shelf.

"I don't think that one will work for you, miss. But you may try if you must," he said kindly, "By this point, I'm just guessing anyway."

I took the lid off the box. This wand was ebony. The long part was like I would imagine a unicorn's horn to be, but shorter and thinner and the handle fit perfectly in my small palm. I pulled the wand from the box and a soft purple glow covered me. I felt a connection form. A connection between the _wand_ and _me_.

"Oh my, it seems I was quite wrong," Olivander laughed lightly.

"This wand has been in my shop for a very long time, but it has always been so picky… Must have something to do with the dragon its core was taken from… Anyway, the wand is ebony with dragon heartstrings, it is 9 ¾ length, and brittle."

"T'at's quite a charming wand, Melinda," Mrs. Finnigan commented.

"Yes, indeed," Mr. Finnigan seemed cheerful.

"How do yeh like it, Melinda?" Seamus asked.

"Mel," I suddenly stated.

"What?" he asked, looking at me like I was insane.

I sighed. "Just call me Mel. It's shorter. And it'll defiantly grow on me, it is pretty cute."

Mr. Olivander chuckled to himself. He was such a kind man. If it was usually eleven year olds coming in here like I was told, he was a good man for the job.

"We must discuss the matter of payment, Ms. Stagg," he said with a soft smile.

"Uuhh… Like money?" I asked with the look of an idiot on my face.

"Well, that's the usual route," he chuckled.

"I don't have any money."

"We're paying for yeh, deary," Mrs. Finnigan said kindly.

"Oh, ma'am, you don't have to. I'll call Maggie and—"

"Lass, we knew very well t'at we'd be paying for yehr t'ings," Mr. Finnigan told me.

"Ok…"

"T'at's a lass."

"Hey, mum. Can Mel and I walk around Diagon Alley now?" Seamus asked.

"Sure, sweetie. You two go have some fun," Mrs. F smiled.

Seamus had been dragging me around for half an hour and had taken me into different wacky stores where he insisted on buying me candy or something that he knew he would be amused by before we spotted a friend of his. I don't know how he ever saw him because we had to enter a shop and work through a maze of kids to get to him. I think I still had a chocolate frog in my pocket… Nope. There it goes.

"Neville!" Seamus greeted the boy.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ok, so since I forgot last chapter and I didn't realize before I updated it about 3 times, here's the disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters in this story except Melinda Stagg and other OCs that you will meet later. Nor do I own anything near as wonderful as anything that the brilliant J. could produce.**

"Oh. Hey, Seamus. What's up?" the boy, Neville, responded.

"I would like to introduce yeh to my new friend, Melinda Stagg."

"H-hello," Neville stuttered.

"Hi," I smiled.

"She's from _America_," Seamus seemed to boast to his friend.

"Oh, well, that's neat," Neville seemed a bit overwhelmed.

"Oh! It's Fred n' George!" And like that, Seamus disappeared into the throng of bodies. I stared after the direction he went with wide eyes.

"That bastard. He left me here to die."

"What?" Neville seemed a little worried. And scared. He was scared a lot.

"You see, I'm a 'muggle-born' witch and I was not prepared in the _slightest_ to function in the magical world and to tell you the truth, I don't think I'm fitting in so far..."

"Oh…Um…I'm sorry… I'm sure he'll be back soon. Until then, I-I guess you can just…" Neville seemed very shy, I mean, the poor boy didn't even finish a sentence before turning away, though I know he was probably going to say that I could hang with him. I let a sigh of relief out anyway.

"Thanks a bunchamous, Neville." I gave him my signature smile. He looked a little more scared… I noticed he was a little cute…

"D-do you like gardening?" he asked, probably as a conversation starter.

"We had an herb garden behind the kitchen and I liked to help take care of it, but it was pretty small… I did always want to have some flowers in my room, but Ms. M didn't allow really plants indoors," I explained.

"O-oh.. I asked because there's this class at school called Herbology and it's basically magic gardening…" he was gaining confidence, "And it's a really cool class, my favorite. Though I didn't know exactly how to feel about it the first day when I passed out…"

"How'd that happen?" I asked.

"We were working with baby mandrakes and I had faulty earmuffs…"

"I'm sorry to hear that," I frowned then added, "But Herbology sounds like it must be pretty fun if you like it after a first day like that."

"It really is," he smiled.

"Tell me more about it, what sorts of plants are there that I wouldn't know about? What do they do?" I asked both genuinely interested in the subject and wanting him to feel comfortable.

"Oh, lots!" he started.

Seamus reemerged from the pit with two ginger guys. I'm guessing Fred and George.

"Melinda, t'is is—" but I cut him off by holding up a finger.

"So gillywig makes you grow gills and fins, and is found where again?" I asked.

"Melinda! Stop talking about t'at boring stuff and let me introduce yeh already!" Seamus yelled impatiently. Neville looked down and I knew that his feelings were hurt… Seamus can really be a hothead, can't he?

"Fine, Seamus. Go ahead."

"T's is Fred and George," Seamus introduced.

"Hi, Melinda Stagg," I shook their hands

""Fred and George Weasley,"" the said in unison.

"He's Fred," one said.

"And he's George," the other said. This was still not going to be easy for me…

"That's a lovely wand," Fred/George I don't know said.

"Oh, thanks," I smiled. Was everyone in the wizarding world so bent up about wands?

"That's ebony, right?" the other one asked

"Yep."

"And an amethyst handel?"

"Yeah. And before you ask, it has dragon heartstrings."

""Nice,"" they said in unison again.

"Bet it packs a wallop," twin # 1 said.

"Wouldn't know. Just got it today."

"How is that? Break your first one?" asked twin # 2.

"That is my first one. I'm kinda coming to school late… All thanks to the bearwomanpigthing that runs the orphanage I live at."

""Orphan, huh? Sorry to hear that,"" again with the in unison!

"Yeah. It's not too bad after a while though; you can get used to it just like anything else. After a while, you even become comfortable with it." They seemed sort of weirded out by that and I wished I hadn't said it… But I realized something, I got used to all sorts of other things in my life that seemed terrifying, maybe I can get used to this world, too… Maybe…

"T'ere yeh are!" cried Mrs. Finnigan, "We have yehr account all set and t'is should cover all t'at yeh need for today." She handed me the money and smiled at me again.

"Thank you so much Mrs. F," I thanked her.

"Mrs. F?" she questioned.

"It's kind of t'e 'hip' way of saying an authority figure's name now a days wit' us muggles," Mr. F chimed in.

"Oh," was all she said.

It had been a long, tiring day of robe fittings and book buying and owl finding and trying to get used to this new, scary, crazy world. Around every corner was something brand-new; some of it interesting and fun, other things frightening. I just wanted to curl up under my Pooh bear comforter and go to sleep, do something that felt normal. The smell of my blankets and my fatigue created the illusion of being home again. I half expected it to be Sasha that was coming up the stairs…

"Hey, Mel—Oh. Where yeh asleep?" Seamus asked.

"Not yet, I wasn't," I grumbled from under the covers. I tear formed in my eye.

"Oh, I'm real sorry, Mel. I'll leave now…"

"No, what did ya want?" I asked as I sat up and scratched my head.

"Just to see if yeh wanted to come down and have a butterbeer wit' me and some friends…"

"What's butterbeer? It's not alcoholic, is it?"

"Haha, no. It's not."

"Hmmm… Ok. I'll come down in just a minute." I began getting out of bed.

"Wha?"

"I'm in my jammies, Seamus. I WAS ready to go to sleep and all." I stood up in my purple pj shorts and a purple tank top.

"Y-yeah. I'll just tell everyone yeh'll be down in a minute." He almost ran out of the room.

I found a bra, a pair of black skinny jeans, and my black jacket with bunny ears and changed quickly. I tied my all-black high-tops with purple laces onto my feet. I grabbed my cell phone and put it in the pocket of my jacket. Then I remembered that it didn't work anyway and put it back under my pillow. On the way down, I ran into Neville.

"H-Hey, Melinda."

"Hey, Neville. You can just call me Mel, if ya want, it's what everyone else calls me."

"O-oh. Ok, Mel. …excuse me…" Neville hurried up the rest of the stairs. _Hm_, I thought, _wonder what the rush is_.

I snuck up behind Seamus and poked him in both his sides at once. He almost jumped into the air while I fell to the floor laughing.

"Melinda! T'at wasn't funny!" he cried, looking a little miffed.

"Haha, sorry. I just couldn't help it, I'm a stealthy ninja," I grinned. He helped me back to my feet and began to introduce me to the rest of his friends.

"Yeh already know Fred and George," he began, "And t'is is Hermione Granger, brightest witch of t'e age."

"Hello, Melinda. It's nice to meet you," she greeted me.

"Hi, Hermione, nice to meet you too."

"And t'is is Ron Weasley, Fred and George's little brother, and Ginny, t'eir little sister."

"Hey," was all Ron said as we shook hands.

"Hi."

"It's nice to meet you, Melinda," Ginny said sweetly.

"It's nice to meet you too, Ginny," I smiled back

"This is Luna Lovegood."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mel." She seems like a sweet girl, if a little spacey.

"The pleasure is all mine," I smiled.

"And last but most certainly not least, Harry Potter."

"Hi, Harry. I'm so excited to meet Seamus's friends."

"Hey, Melinda."

"Why's you're jacket look so funny, Melinda?" asked Ginny. Ron promptly elbowed her.

"Why are bunny ears so funny?" I pouted.

"O-oh, well, I guess they aren't," she said as she rubbed her side.

"I think it's really cute, Mel," Luna commented, "Did you make it yourself?"

"Oooh, noo, I can't sew this well. I mean, I can _sew_, and it …usually stays together relatively well, but it looks NOTHING like this…"

"I didn't know yeh could sew," Seamus said.

"Well, I mean, I _did_ take home ec."

"What?" he asked. I sighed.

"Never mind, Seamus."

"Hey, when are we gonna get those butterbeers?" Harry asked.

"Tom! A round of butterbeers, please!" Seamus called.

"OhmyGod. This stuff is great," was my first response to my first sip of butterbeer.

"Yeah, kind of a shock at first, though, isn't it?" Harry asked. We were sitting at a table away from the others. They were talking about something called Quidditch which is, apparently, a very popular sport. Harry saw that I was feeling left out and began to talk to me about different muggle things. And I found that he and I were much alike. We're both orphans that grew up in the muggle world.

"I got so used to where I was, where candy didn't really move and there were tvs and ipods and things like that that have no purpose here that I feel so out of place, almost like I don't belong… I find it so hard to be around them because I don't know what to talk about; I don't know anything about their world… And I know they don't mean to make me feel this way, they're just doing things that are normal to them. And I'm trying to get used to it, I really am, but it's just so different… I feel more comfortable now that I have someone to relate to. Though, I'm sorry that you're in my same sort of situation," I told Harry. He knew right away that I was talking about being an orphan.

"Well, I was actually only a baby when my parents were killed. I don't really remember them," he softly informed. "How old were you?"

"About the same. I didn't go to the orphanage until I was about six, though. Before then I stayed with a foster family until they had their 8th child and sent me to Hill Crest…"

"I'm so sorry to hear that, Mel. Do you want to talk about it?" he seemed to not really know what to do.

"Well, there's really not much to say. I was so small that I don't even remember what they looked like… I just know they died in a really bad tornado storm and everyone thought it was a miracle I was even alive."

"Oh… um… That sound's terrible…" It seems my apathy has troubled someone again…

"I'm not completely apathetic to it, though. They were my parents. And even though I've never known a parent's love or whatever, I still saw other kids with their parents and saw how happy they were. When I was little and just starting school, I began to see what I was missing as my new friends would talk about the things they would do with their parents and for a while, I was really sad. Would go home and curl up under my Winnie the Pooh covers and not come out till dinner but after a couple of months, I got used to my situation again. I told myself that my lot couldn't be changed and who knew, maybe my parents would've been really strict or mean or something."

"Is that what you do with everything, Mel?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You just get used to it?"

"Well, things I can't change, of course. What else can you do then, ya know? But there are some things that I won't take any other way. I don't like having homework at home—who does?—so I do it all at school and if I do bring any home, it usually doesn't get down. Every time Ms. M would rearrange the herb garden, I'd get back in there and put it right again. And, obviously, I wear whatever the hell I want," I said as I held up one of the bunny ears.

"You know we wear uniforms at Hogwarts, right?"

"Yeah… That's not gonna jive well…"

"Just promise me that you'll try to stay out of trouble with the dress code, ok?" he laughed.

"I don't know… I'm thinking of making all the trouble. Allllllll the trouble," I snarked, adding in a reference from my favorite webcomic-thing: Homestuck.

"You didn't catch that reference, did you?" I asked.

"What reference?"

"Didn't think so…"

"Hey guys!" Seamus interjected, "Can I join you two?"

"No, you have to separate from us. Now," I replied. I do love being snarky, and I can't be that way to people till I know they can handle it, but I feel Seamus can.

"W-what?"

"I was being snarky, Seamus, of course you can join us," I laughed. He just pouted.

Seamus calmed down very fast and didn't leave my side for the rest of the night. I got to talk with a bunch of the other kids and found out that Ron's not too bad a guy. I ended up having three butterbeers and they must have a high sugar content because I got an energy buzz for a while before I crashed.

"Seamus."

"Yeah?"

"I think I'm gonna go to bed…"

"Oh, ok. I have t'e key right here."

"…I won't need it… I forgot to lock the door…"

"It locks itself," he turned to the group, "'Night guys. Mel needs to go to bed."

"Wait… Why are you coming?"

"I have t'e only key," he said, waving the key in front of my face.

"Oh… Right…"

"Oh, wow, Mel. You really do need to get to sleep."

"Yeah, Melinda. You don't look like you're feeling well," Hermione said, worried.

"I'll be fine… I'm just… tired…" I said in a more muffled way than I meant to. I got a chorus of 'Goodnight's before I waved goodbye and started to slink toward the stairs.

Seamus kept close to me in case I fell while we made our way upstairs. When we got into the room we were sharing with his parents, I went over to my bed and tried to pull off my shoes. It didn't work… These are high-tops… Which means I have to untie them to get them off…

"Here, Melinda, let me help yeh wit' t'at." Seamus untied my shoes for me.. I noticed that Mr. and Mrs. Finnigan weren't around and asked Seamus about it. He said they were on a "date." I pulled my shoes off and slinked into the bathroom so I could change my clothes. When I was finished, I came out to see Seamus sitting on the bed by the window, reading a book. Funny, I didn't know he read. Or that he wasn't cute. He was hot. Wait. Why the hell was he on my bed?

"Seamus, what the hell are you doing on my bed?" He looked at me a little shocked and unable to speak for a moment.

"I called t'e window bed, remember?"

"Like hell you did, get out of my bed."

"But t'e ot'er's a queen size and everyt'ing," he tried to coax. But I didn't really care about what he had called. I pushed him out of the bed and pulled my Pooh bear comforter over my face.

"Night, Seamus," I mumbled from under the blanket. He sighed before replying.

"Night Mel, sleep well…"


	3. Chapter 3

"Mel," a voice said. I felt a gentle shaking.

"Mel, wake up," the voice came again. I think it's Seamus…

"M to trd to gt up. One mr hr," I mumbled.

"No, Mel. Get up. Now," Seamus said.

"Nooooooooo."

"Fine. Be like t'at, t'en." I suddenly felt the sensation of falling. Then the sensation of hitting something hard. The bastard had pushed me out of bed.

"Seamus Finnigan, I'm gonna murder you," I said darkly as I picked myself up. I saw his face turn white before he dashed for the door. I run after him and the chase began.

I ran down the stairs after him. He jumped the last few stairs and bolted right. I was hot on his heels. He slid under a table and got up. I jumped over it and landed on him, both of us falling to the floor. I started ringing his neck and shaking him. If this was a cartoon, he'd have X's for eyes and his tongue would be hanging out. But this was real life so he was screaming and trying to pull my hands from his neck.

"Uh, Mel… I think that's enough," Harry said cautiously from behind me. I heard Ron say something like, "Bloody_ hell_. I'll never make that girl mad…"

I stopped shaking him but didn't remove my hands from his neck and hissed like a snake. My green-blue-gray eyes glared into his wide, green ones.

"Now let go, Mel," Hermione ordered me like an owner to their dog. I let go, but didn't break my glare. I slowly got off him and stood up, still not breaking eye contact. I did the 'I'm keeping my eyes on you' hand motion and started backing up while still pointing my fingers at him. I tripped over a bucket of water and fell to the ground. I shuttered at the _bucket,_ picked myself up with what dignity I still had, and turned and huffed away. I went back to my room and changed into my uniform in the bathroom. I rearranged the purple ribbon I had tied into a bow around my head that went under my hair and kept my bangs out of my face. I was a little nervous about today… Today was the day I got on my first train… It couldn't be worse than the plane, though. Nothing could be worse than flying. I shivered at the memory of my first plane ride; Maggie had had to give me a Dramamine **and** a Benadryl so I could sleep through the whole trip.

When I came out of the bathroom, I saw Seamus- in his uniform by now- holding the picture of Sasha and me.

He noticed that I had come out and asked, "Who are t'ese kids?"

"That's me and my best friend, Sasha, from when we were seven," I said, walking up beside him.

"Why are yeh covered in dirt?"

"Oh, we had just been fighting. This is a picture of the moment she and I became friends." I took the picture from his hands and smiled.

"It looks like yeh and Sasha are really close," he pointed out with a smile on his own face.

"Yeah," I smiled, "We really are. We're sisters. Not by blood, mind you, but by heart."

"It must be hard for yeh to be so far away from 'er t'en." I felt a pang in my gut.

"It really is, but I need this. I _need_ to go to Hogwarts. I need to learn to control my magic…" I sat on the bed and stared out the window, "I've hurt people before…"

"Sasha?" he asked as he sat down next to me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"No, thank God. But every time I really lose my temper, something bad happens."

"Do you lose your temper often?"

"When I was younger, about middle school, yeah. I was starting to get fed up with school and Ms. M's crap and would, ya know, explode every now and again…" He chuckled.

"No, literally, things would explode. But any way, I've gotten so scared of myself when I'm mad that I've taught myself how to stay calm," I explained plainly.

"How?"

` "I've just stopped caring about most everything," I shrugged, " I've told myself that nothing's really worth getting too upset over, crap happens. Like when Ms. M would have the garden rearranged, I'd just sigh and plough on, put everything back where it belonged."

"Oh, um… T'at sounds… great…" He said hesitantly.

"Well, I mean, it's been really good for me, ya know? Less stress, fewer pimples and such."

"I guess," he said, more ok with it.

Mrs. Finnigan poked her head through the door way.

"Are yeh two ready for breakfast?" she asked.

"Yeah, mum. We'll be down in a second," Seamus answered.

"Alright t'en, hurry up!" she said cheerfully and with that, she disappeared.

"So. Are yeh ready, Melinda?" Seamus asked as he stood up.

"Sure."

*small omniscient POV*

Mrs. Finnigan came down the stairs and pranced over to her husband.

"Peter!" she practically squealed, "Yeh won't believe what I saw!"

"Really now, Lucy?" he asked.

"Melinda n' Seamus where sittin next to each ot'er on the bed and Seamus had 'is arm around 'er~! I t'ink t'ey might be a couple all ready," she winked.

"Ah, t'at's me boy! He finally took my advice!"

"Now shh! Here t'ey come!" she hushed as the fore-mentioned "couple" came down the stairs, laughing.

*omniscient view end*

"Hahaha! Yeh really said t'at?" Seamus asked with a large smile on his face. I had just finished telling him about the time I looked Ms. Moutler in the eyes and told her she looked like an ugly dog..

"Yeah, true shizz," I laughed with him. We walked over to where his parents were. Both of us noticed that they were smiling a little too much.

"Mum, Da, is somet'in wrong?" Seamus asked, "Are ye feelin alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine, Seamus, me boy!" his dad seemed much too cheery. Seamus and I looked at each other. We were both more than a little worried, not to mention scared.

We deduced over breakfast that they must think we were a couple since Mrs. F did see Seamus's hand on my shoulder and all. We weren't gonna tell them though, why ruin their happy mood?

Seamus watched as I picked apart my "full English" breakfast. I was having a hard time at keeping the beans away from the rest of the food so as to not RUIN IT as I dissected the still runny yolks from the eggs.

"What are yeh doing to t'at poor breakfast, Mel?" he asked.

"I don't really like baked beans touching anything else and I HATE egg yolk. It's evil."

"Evil, got it," he laughed and returned to his own breakfast.

We arrived at King's Cross Station and they were now expecting me to run at a solid wall.

"I'm not gonna do it, Seamus. I'm not gonna run at a solid wall," I explained for the fourth time.

"But it's not solid, Mel! Like I've told you for t'e hundredt' time!"

"It's only been four times."

"Quit staling!"

"You go first!"

"Fine! I will!" He huffed. He charged at the wall and when he didn't smash into it, I was ...sort of miffed… He stuck his head back out of the wall.

"See, not solid," and then pulled it back in. I needed to get used to this magic stuff fast. Or my temper might get the better of me…

"It's yehr turn now, deary," Mrs. F prompted. I took a big breath and held it. I run toward the wall and closed my eyes. I heard a swoosh noise and stopped. I opened my eyes and looked around.

To drop my jaw was all I could do; the place was just so breath taking.

"Get out of t'e way, Melinda!" Seamus ordered as he pulled me to the side just in time for his parents to come out at the same spot I had been standing in.

"I swear, Mel, ye're takin years off me life," Seamus said, exasperated. I only partially heard him, though. I was too busy looking around. When I looked back, I didn't see him. I searched the crowd with my eyes and didn't find him or his family. Oh, Shit…


End file.
